HIA and Room Stewards...

[Mosaic]

So with HIA can/do/should our Room Stewards bring water, etc to fill the mini-bar with the drinks we choose???  We often get the mini-bar emptied but never tried to refill with HIA.   

Thanks.

[CruisingAndDiving]

I don't believe the mini bar is included with HIA

Edited December 9, 2023 by CruisingAndDiving

[shadow 123]

8 minutes ago, Mosaic said:

So with HIA can/do/should our Room Stewards bring water, etc to fill the mini-bar with the drinks we choose???  We often get the mini-bar emptied but never tried to refill with HIA.   

Thanks.

No. Room service and minibar are not included in the HIA.

[sailawayward]

I don't think the room stewards would be the ones delivering drinks to your room.  That would be done through room service, but I can't remember what restrictions may apply since we only ordered coffee with breakfast to our cabin.  You can always get drinks from any bar and bring them back to your stateroom and it would go toward your daily limit.  

Edited December 9, 2023 by sailawayward

[Cruise Suzy]

The mini-bar fridge in your cabin is NOT included with a beverage package. However, you can get canned water and sioft drinks from a bar and store in the fridge.

[Sea42]

@CruisingAndDiving is correct. What we do is have the steward empty it and we go to the bar and pick up a few sodas and or beers that we would like in our cabin.

[canadianbear]

1 minute ago, Sea42 said:

@CruisingAndDiving is correct. What we do is have the steward empty it and we go to the bar and pick up a few sodas and or beers that we would like in our cabin.

That is what we did on our recent Eurodam cruise.  The room steward emptied the mini fridge & we would use our HIA to bring back water or pop for our fridge.

[Blackduck59]

There seems to be a common thread here. We like the HIA package and understand the limitations of the beverage portion of that package. Like others have said get the steward to empty the "mini bar" set up. Keep track of your beverage count and at the end of the day grab some water, pop, beer or cider and stock you personal HIA mini bar.

[Real NHDOC]

LOL, we do the opposite. 

 

Without HIA but get 50% off mini-bar being 5* so have the stewards stock up on beers in our fridge and bring them to the bars or dining room!  It's always happy hour that way 🙂

[Blackduck59]

4 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

LOL, we do the opposite. 

 

Without HIA but get 50% off mini-bar being 5* so have the stewards stock up on beers in our fridge and bring them to the bars or dining room!  It's always happy hour that way 🙂

 

That works for you because of your 5* "status". The OP asked about HIA and how it worked with the mini bar, the simple answer is it doesn't. Like others have posted use the HIA drink package to get included beverages at the bar and bring them to you cabin, putting them in the fridge that you asked the steward to clear for you.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Make sure you ask for whatever beverage you request to take back to your cabin to be unopened. Often the bartender automatically opens the can or bottle. The last time we asked the steward to empty the minifridge, they just put everything in a cabinet and in the empty space around the fridge. I can do that next time😁.

[Shmoo here]

41 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Make sure you ask for whatever beverage you request to take back to your cabin to be unopened. Often the bartender automatically opens the can or bottle. The last time we asked the steward to empty the minifridge, they just put everything in a cabinet and in the empty space around the fridge. I can do that next time😁.

I know they usually just stash the stuff from the minifridge in the room, but I like to have the steward empty it.  Just so I know (and they know) that the stuff in there is mine and they don't "replenish" the stock with minifridge items because they think we've used some (meaning we get charged for it).

[Real NHDOC]

On 12/9/2023 at 1:43 PM, Blackduck59 said:

 

That works for you because of your 5* "status". The OP asked about HIA and how it worked with the mini bar, the simple answer is it doesn't. Like others have posted use the HIA drink package to get included beverages at the bar and bring them to you cabin, putting them in the fridge that you asked the steward to clear for you.

Yes, I was simply pointing out that for every hack there's another hack that someone else uses.  We're all trying to get the most for our money and in doing so are carrying drinks around the ship, with some of us carrying them from our rooms and some carrying to them.  I just thought it was humorous is all. 

 

As others have said, the misnamed "have it all" doesn't include mini-bar, room service or drinks on Halfmoon Cay (which has always irritated me). 

 

They have begun to give discounts on wine by the bottle if you buy a bottle and bought HIA but it is only $11 so not a great discount, but at least better than nothing. 

[Haljo1935]

As others have said, HIA doesn't appear to mini-bar, so if you're looking to maximize HIA value and minimize spend, empty it (yourself or by cabin steward (and restock using HIA purchases. This last cruise, we grabbed the HAL tote bag everything we left the cabin and made stops by GDC and other bars to grab a few drinks for our fridge.

However you work it out, just be sure your cabin steward knows any drinks consumed from the fridge were from your inventory, not HALs. 

Enjoy!

[Bill B]

8 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

As others have said, the misnamed "have it all" doesn't include mini-bar, room service or drinks on Halfmoon Cay (which has always irritated me).

 

Perhaps a name change to - HIAE (Have It All Except). 😉

[CruiserBruce]

42 minutes ago, Bill B said:

 

Perhaps a name change to - HIAE (Have It All Except). 😉

Except the drink plans, when purchased outside of HIA don't include the minibar. So it is consistent with the pre-existing rules.